"In January and April 2007 it is likely that global land surface temperatures ranked warmest since records began in 1880…. [It is] very likely that hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation events will continue to become more frequent."

Among the evidence cited by the UN's meteorological agency, according to CNN:

"Four monsoon depressions, double the normal number, caused heavy flooding in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh…. England and Wales have experienced their wettest May-to-July period since record-keeping started in 1766…. Late last month in Sudan, floods and heavy rain caused 23,000 mud brick homes to collapse, killing at least 62 people…."

Citing measurements from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), the BBC reports that this summer is likely to end with the lowest ice cover on record.

"If you look at data for the first week in August, we are way below what we saw in 2005," explained Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the NSIDC. "So unless something really changes, for example the Arctic suddenly becomes a lot colder, it is going to be hard not to beat the previous record."

"…establishing a link between climate change and extreme weather is a controversial matter…. scientists caution there is not enough evidence to blame global warming for recent extreme weather, and there are those who say there is no proof that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent."

"Climate scientist James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies, agreed: 'You cannot blame a single specific event, such as [last] week's storm, on climate change,' he said. 'However,' he added, 'it is fair to ask whether the human changes have altered the likelihood of such events. There the answer seems to be 'yes.' "

"There is ... particular interest in the coming decade, which represents a key planning horizon for infrastructure upgrades, insurance, energy policy and business development,' Douglas Smith and his co-authors noted. The real heat will start after 2009, they said."